I just discovered this draft of a diary that I wrote 10 years ago and never published(!)
Just sharing.
Phone call to my Mom on her birthday (age 72), she sheepishly confessed to thinking about supporting Hillary Clinton and "that guy from Illinois, I think he's black." She felt kind of bad because her sisters (three of four are still alive) are all rabid Bush supporters because "he goes to church and believes in Jesus." I love my Mom no matter what. I love her now more than ever. I think she's a (default like me) Democrat because of her life experiences. She took care of her sisters when she was a child as the eldest. She shepherded my step-father through cancer and his death. She escorted my grandmother to her death, and continues to aid others similarly (read "hospice") as their time winds down.
So now it’s 2016 and my Mom is 82 and was in town for my son’s wedding. She said she was very disappointed that the guy she really wanted to vote for had just dropped out of the race.
Me: Who were you thinking of voting for, Mom?
Mom: That sweet Doctor, I think his name was Ben something?
I pretty much didn’t say anything. My mom’s intellect is as sharp as ever so there’s no need to address a declining mental state. But when I told her that Ben Carson had just endorsed Donald Trump (who she vociferously declared was “one of the most awful men I know about”) she immediately blurted out an anguished “OH NOOOOO!!!!”
I’m pretty sure she’ll be voting for Bernie Sanders, just like my wife and daughter. I voted for Hillary. We all had our reasons, we all have no problems with each other’s politics.
Family. Love them always. I understand they can think differently.
And so it goes.